Harvey didn't jump; he was pushed

The Air Force Times is reporting that Army Secretary Francis Harvey's resignation was requested before it was offered. In fact, Harvey was at Ft. Benning in Georgia and was summoned back to the Pentagon to meet with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Friday afternoon, in time for his exit to make the evening news.

After the meeting with Harvey, Gates issued the following statement:

Gates was unhappy with the Army’s response to revelations, reported by Army Times and The Washington Post, that wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington were consigned to squalid quarters and mired in administrative red tape while awaiting care and evaluation for benefits.

“I am disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation pertaining to outpatient care at Walter Reed,” Gates said in the Pentagon briefing room.

“Some have shown too much defensiveness and have not shown enough focus on digging into and addressing the problems,” Gates said.

“Also, I am concerned that some do not properly understand the need to communicate to the wounded and their families that we have no higher priority than their care, and that addressing their concerns about the quality of their outpatient experience is critically important.

“Our wounded soldiers and their families have sacrificed much and they deserve the best we can offer.”

Secretary Gates took no questions from reporters, but if he had, certainly the press corps would have clamored to know if Kiley is next.

None the less, my Magic 8-Ball says Kiley will be gone by the evening news Wednesday - at the latest. (And if I'm wrong, which I'm not, well I'm due to miss. I've been on a roll lately with the predictions...)

There's more: "Harvey didn't jump; he was pushed" >>

BREAKING: More 'Medical Hold' fallout

The day after the firing of General George Weightman, the Commander at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey resigned. Harvey, a Bush political appointee, is the latest casualty in the ongoing 'Medical Hold' scandal.

Harvey's resignation was announced by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who took the opportunity to chastise some of the more recalcitrant members of the medical officer corps. Gates said he was "disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation pertaining to outpatient care at Walter Reed."

This story is not going anywhere any time soon. The outrage is pervasive and the cravenness of the administration that oversaw this fiasco is palpable.

The masterminds who conceived of and oversaw the disaster that is the Bush administration need to check their watches. The time for accountability is now.

There's more: "BREAKING: More 'Medical Hold' fallout" >>

Assault on Dignity

Just when I think I have reached the limits of my disgust and anger at the Walter Reed Medical Hold scandal, another outrage comes to light, and new heights are achieved.

I have avoided this topic because it just offends me on so many levels. It offends me as a healthcare professional. It offends me as the daughter, sister and wife of a Sailor, a Soldier and an Airman, respectively. It offends me as an American Citizen, ostensibly served by the sacrifices of our military. It offends me as a human being.

Honestly, I don’t believe I am in possession of a single, solitary unoffended sensibility.

The level of disgust and outrage I feel is not compatible with a reasoned discussion of the topic, and this topic is too important to me to alienate anyone with an invective-laden tirade that questions the parentage of various command level medical officers and elected officials.

Retaliation

How dare those soldiers in Building 18 talk to the press and allow the public to become aware of the conditions troops in medical hold have had to deal with and the indignities they have suffered.

The troops in medical hold have been told they will now roll out at 0600, and have their quarters ready for inspection by 0700.

These are combat veterans who have paid a heavy price with a precious coin, at the behest of their government, and they are being treated like they are back in basic training. It is outrageous. It is maddening. It is unconscionable.

And no matter how the pentagon tries to spin it from the lower levels while Gates expresses his outrage, this is a retaliatory move, and the interests of the troops are not being served.

I am curious about something and have been since the story broke. Suddenly elected officials were demanding accountability, and medical officers falling all over themselves to accept responsibility.

Well, Duh. Command knew what the deal was. Command always knows and don’t believe otherwise. Those soldiers weren’t sequestered to Bedlam, unsupervised, disintegrating to a Lord of the Flies scenario, existing entirely in a vacuum.

My first thought was to wonder where the hell they have been for the last four years?

Are they admitting that all those trips out to Walter Reed with news crews in tow were just 15-minute photo-ops; benefiting only the politicians by having pictures snapped while they look admiringly at a plucky amputee who just wants to get back to his unit?

Are they admitting, ipso facto, that those soldiers cease to matter as soon as the lens-caps go back on and the mics go dead, and their utility to the politician has been expended?

I think we should trawl the nets and find those pictures...and hang them around the necks of the media whores who send our young men and women off to fight and die in unjust and unjustified wars – the media whores who are deeply concerned for 15 minutes while the cameras roll – the media whores who allowed troops who did their duty live in squalor as they struggle to recover from war wounds.

Failing to step up and do what’s right, neglecting ones responsibilities – these are the kinds of things that prompt me to press a hot iron into your flesh to burn the word feckless into your person

There's more: "Assault on Dignity" >>